


To Be a Lestrange

by Someone_aka_Me



Series: in a world that could've left us hard as metal [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Civil War, Incest, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-19
Updated: 2014-08-19
Packaged: 2018-02-13 19:19:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2162112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Someone_aka_Me/pseuds/Someone_aka_Me
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rabastan is conscripted, Rodolphus enlists.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To Be a Lestrange

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissingMommy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissingMommy/gifts), [Gamma_Orionis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gamma_Orionis/gifts).



> This is for Gamma too, because she gave me the idea for it ages ago. Thanks, my dear!

The minute they call out Rabastan's name, Rodolphus feels the blood in his veins wash cold. _No_. His little brother is not a fighter. Rabastan abhors violence; he isn't capable of fighting a war.

He reminds himself that he still has to pass through medical testing before they'll ship him off. Rab won't pass medical testing. He _won't_. He's always been sickly, and he'll be nervous, which will make it worse. They can't send an ill man off to fight.

Rodolphus tells himself this over and over and over again because he cannot bear the alternative.

.

But then some sort of awful, impossible thing happens. Rabastan passes. He shouldn't be able to, and Rodolphus wants to drag his pale brother back into the examination room and scream, _Are you all blind? Do you not see him?_

But Rodolphus knows better than to protest the choices of his government. People have been hanged for less in this time of conflict.

Instead, he does the only thing he can do.

He enlists.

.

The odds that they will put Rodolphus with Rabastan would be… astronomically high, were they any other soldiers. But they are not. They are Lestranges, and their father is Joseph Lestrange, a prominent General in the Confederate Army. Joseph has earned multiple medals and commendations in his short stint as General, and people have been watching him rise through the ranks.

His position is secure enough to ensure that his sons are place in the same company.

Rodolphus knows that the request will cost him — his father does nothing for free. He also considers it to be worth it.

.

Rabastan can hardly hold the gun. His arms tremble when he holds it up for too long, and Rodolphus wonders once more who the _hell_ passed him through a medical evaluation.

Rodolphus does what he can for his brother, but people begin to notice. People begin to ask questions.

The rest of the company is furious that Rabastan is here, because they know that having a weak soldier in place of a strong one is just one more strike against their odds of survival. Rodolphus cannot blame them for hating him, but he can blame them when they begin to strike out. After the first time a limping Rabastan makes his way back into their tent, Rodolphus refuses to leave him alone.

They do not care, and there are too many of them for Rodolphus to keep them all away. Rabastan gets attacked multiple times, Rodolphus gaining bruises in the process — their attackers are also worse for the wear, but it is not enough. They have figured out that Joseph Lestrange is not going to step in for his sons, and they are getting bolder.

In all his thinking about the war, Rodolphus had never guessed that the greatest thread would come from his own fellow soldiers. It is… disheartening.

.

Rodolphus clears the blood from Rabastan's hairline and promises himself that this is the last time, that they will regret ever touching his brother.

Rabastan mutters something, twisting in his trouble sleep, and Rodolphus leans down without thinking and presses his lips to his brother's forehead. "Rest easy, dear brother." _They will pay for what they have done to you. I promise you that. They will pay._

.

He is both sickened and empowered by the feeling of a man's last breath gasping through a closed throat beneath his hands. He had not know what it felt like to kill, to murder in cold blood — though they are being trained to kill, they have not yet.

Until now.

The three worst tormenters are growing cold when Rodolphus dashes into their shared tent, swings his pack, Rabastan's, and his rifle over his shoulder, and then wakes Rabastan.

"Time to go, Little Brother. Up. We need distance tonight."

Rabastan blinks blearily at him. Rodolphus doesn't explain, and Rabastan doesn't ask. Not then, anyway.

.

Rabastan slept slumped against Rodolphus for most of the horseback journey through the night. Rodolphus looped a few ropes around him so that he didn't have to worry about him falling off and continued riding hard. He doesn't stop until the sun rises, dismounting too quickly. His untrained legs won't hold after a night of riding, and he hits the ground with a thump.

Rabastan wakes.

"Rod, why are we deserting?"

Rodolphus shudders at the word, but he looks at Rabastan and Rabastan _knows_. He doesn't ask any more questions.

.

Days later, it truly sinks in. They are deserters. They are _well-known_ deserters, thanks to their father. They cannot be caught. If they are caught, they are dead.

They make their way North. They do not expect to be welcomed there, but they do not have much choice.


End file.
